


Full of Life

by deathishauntedbyhumans



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Character Analysis, During Canon, Episode: s02e24 Moonvasion!, Friendship, Gen, Wordcount: 100-1.000, ship if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 15:14:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20641259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans
Summary: Penumbra meets Della’s family amidst the chaos of the aftermath of Lunaris’ almost-war.





	Full of Life

“This is my family! You know Donald—“ Della shouts through the glass. Penumbra can feel herself slipping, and despite the fact that she’s hardly even taking in what Della’s saying, she interrupts. 

“Let me in!”

Della’s features go slack in what Penumbra recognises as an Earthen _ duh _look. “Oh, right!”

The tiny holding room between the interior of the ship and the vast expanse of space is smaller than Penumbra anticipates, but she also thinks that might be because she’s immediately crowded with another body when the bay doors behind her slam shut. 

_ “Penny!” _Della yells, beak too close to her head and voice too loud. The once-grating cry fills Penumbra with a strange comfort, though, and for the first time since the day they’d met, she wraps her arms around Della’s brittle form and hugs her back for all they’re worth. (She’ll deny it later, of course, but for now, she revels in the fact that she’s alive, and that Della’s alive, and that Lunaris and his ridiculous invasion have finally been defeated.) 

The entire ride back to Earth is a blur after that. Della pulls her into the cockpit and introduces her properly to Scrooge McDuck (“Uncle Scrooge! This is Penny! I told you about her! Penny, this is my Uncle Scrooge!”), her children (“Huey—“ the red one, “—Louie—“ the green one, “—and Dewey!” Dewey is the blue one, and he immediately starts trying to ask her questions about the Moon, tripping over his own tongue until Della shushes him fondly), and the little duck child who does not actually belong to her (“I’m Webby!” the little girl says before Della can introduce her, nearly vibrating out of her seat with excitement). 

They touch down on the planet’s surface just as Penumbra finally processes Donald’s presence among the rest of his family, too. 

She stops him as they exit the rocket, one hand grasping loosely at his unbound arm. She doesn’t miss the way he stiffens in her grip, the way he spins like he expects an attack, or the way his gaze softens when he sees who’s standing behind him. 

“You’re alive,” Penumbra says dumbly after a second of hesitation. _ Obviously _ he’s alive! But she hadn’t _ expected _it at all— despite the fact that she’s just ridden in a rocket with him, that they shared the same air coming back from space, it’s a little hard to believe that he’s not dead. 

He smiles at her ruefully. “_You’re _ alive,” he replies. His voice still contains that same strange, scratchy quality that had made it so difficult to understand him back on the Moon, but it doesn’t confuse her as much now as it had when he’d first spoken indignantly after being arrested by General Lunaris. She allows herself a guarded smile in return. 

“I… am glad, that you aren’t dead,” she tells him plainly, the emotion genuine if a little stilted. He nods with a vehemence that almost takes Penumbra by surprise. 

“So am I,” he states, exhaustion creeping into his otherwise too-serious tone. “I’m glad neither of us are dead.”

“Donald! Penny! C’mon, you’re gonna miss the group hug!” Della yells from across the courtyard they’ve landed in, bounding her way in time with her children (and the not-her-child) towards the large mansion where other Earthers and Moon-citizens have already begun to gather. 

Penumbra looks at Donald again, and Donald looks back at her. Their gazes reflect each others’ bemusement, their exhaustion, their thinly-veiled pain, their fondness for Della. 

“Come on,” Donald says, and he gestures for her to follow with his uninjured arm. “You heard her.”

Penumbra follows him the rest of the way down the ramp, only pausing for a second at the bottom. _ Earth. _For all of Della’s rambling, Penumbra had never really expected it to look so… 

She takes in the sight of the children falling on top of each other, the Earthers cautiously conversing with her fellow people of the Moon, the way Della is excitedly greeting everyone she knows regardless of where they’d come from. She’d never actually expected Earth to be this… 

_ Beautiful. _

Della rushes her as soon as she’s close enough, jumping up so that Penumbra is forced to catch her. She does so easily, ignoring the sound of Donald’s snickering beside them and pretending it doesn’t make her heart light up with joy. 

Lunaris was _ wrong _ to target these people, these Earthers, Penumbra thinks fiercely while she sets Della gently back on the ground. He was _ wrong. _

Della tackles Donald to the ground, and the two of them scuffle, knocking into Penumbra’s legs only seconds later and sending her tumbling down on top of them both. When Della begins to laugh, Donald does too, and to their obvious surprise (and Penumbra’s own!), she joins them, with pure _ life _coursing through her like the very blood that keeps her going. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was largely inspired by a piece of fanart by patrickcann on tumblr that genuinely made me cry last night. 
> 
> https://patrickcann.tumblr.com/post/187549347187/have-you-thought-about-how-perfect-penumbra-is
> 
> Kudos/comments are love! Come scream at me on tumblr @deathishauntedbyhumans.


End file.
